October 17, 1991 - Home Infusion Nurse Meets
Computer Programmer

It sounds like the beginning of a beautiful relationship, doesn’t it? OK, don’t get the wrong idea… it isn’t that kind of a relationship. Stuart Crane was in his backyard raking leaves – a rare occurrence back in those days, as he spent most of his time in his basement working on his computer. I owned the house one street over and we were backyard neighbors. I was also outside working in the yard – something I did all the time - I didn’t have a computer. We met over the backyard fence.

“So, what do you do?”

The conversation started out the way all first neighborly meetings go… “So, what do you do?” “Home infusion therapy,” I said, “I’m an RN”. Stuart said, “I’m a computer programmer, I write database programs”. How ironic, I thought. For the previous six months or so, I had been looking, unsuccessfully, for a software program that would automate all the pen and paper based record keeping that I dealt with everyday. On that day, over the backyard fence, the seeds of CPR+ and Definitive Homecare Solutions were planted. It was literally in that very first meeting, the idea of a software program for home infusion therapy was created. Eighteen months later - April 1, 1993 - CPR+ was created, and D.H.S. was open for business.

This month, April 2008, marks the 15th anniversary of Definitive Homecare Solutions. It’s almost unbelievable to think all that was 15-16 years ago. And while the founding of the company rested on that fateful meeting back in 1991, the past 15 years could not have been possible without the great work of our incredible staff and the support of all of our fantastic customers.

Click here for a pictorial retrospective

Almost immediately after our first meeting, we began designing the software that would become CPR+. We took my boss out to lunch and made him an offer he couldn’t refuse – we’d write the software that would automate most of the paperwork in the company, dramatically improve JCAHO compliance and management reporting, all after hours on our own time, and all it would cost him was a few hundred dollars per month. 

So, every night after work, I’d head over to Stuart’s basement and we’d work on the software. I’d sketch out the screens on a legal pad and Stuart would, like magic, write the code that transformed my sketches into functioning software. It was unbelievable. It truly felt like magic – like there was nothing we couldn’t make it do. Stuart’s vocabulary didn’t include the words “I can’t do it” and I wanted the system to do it all, immediately. We stayed up late, lots of nights, drinking coffee, eating pizza and writing software. 

By the spring of 1992, we had built a basic and highly-customized program that began to replace all of the paper-based forms and procedures that the infusion company I worked for used. The program allowed us to enter a new patient, add demographic and medical information, medications, POT’s, progress notes, and care plans, and simply press F7 to print.  Sound familiar? This is where the infamous CPR+ “Patient Menu” began. Before long, our entire staff was hooked on this simple little program. It revolutionized the way we worked. Computers were networked and we were sharing patient information between intake, pharmacy, nursing and reimbursement. No more shouting “Who’s got Mr. Smith’s chart?” …now everyone could have access to the chart. I remember sitting in a clinical case meeting and pulling up a patient on the computer. We all looked at each other and said, “How did we run this business before we got this program?”

Neither Stuart nor I had any formal business experience, but we were pretty sure that we had created something that other infusion companies would be interested in. Maybe, a lot! So, we decided to build a business around our little program. We began writing version 2.0, came up with a name for our software and our company, and bought a $10 vendor’s license from the State of Ohio. By the spring of 1993, after a bit of tricky negotiating with the large health system that owned the infusion company I worked for, we established indisputable ownership of the code, and we officially formed our company. 

Then the real fun began. We were working day and night to bring CPR+ to market. With a total of $400 of start-up capital, ($200 invested by each partner and I can still remember my ex-wife complaining about that), D.H.S. began operations. I continued to work full-time as an infusion nurse and Stuart worked full-time as a programmer. Every night we worked out of Stuart’s basement to add new features to the software and market it to the home infusion industry. We got leads, we sent out information packets and free, fully functional software demo discs (3.5 inch floppies!) We used vacation days from our day jobs to visit prospective customers. We made a few early sales in the spring and summer of 1993 and our company bank account swelled to several thousand dollars! It was amazing – people were paying us real money, we were having a blast and CPR+ was on its way to becoming the most dominant software system in the industry.

By the end of 1993, with four real customers and a bunch of prospects, I quit my day job and started walking across the backyard every morning to Stuart’s basement. We had a two-line phone so I could make outgoing sales calls on line 1 and take incoming support calls on line 2. I could reach Stuart when I needed him – which was often. I’d have him on one line helping me troubleshoot an issue with a customer on the other line. It was working. By the fall of 1994, we’d sold another 25 customers, although my two-line phone was getting quite a workout.

We Doubled our Staff! 

Click here to read the exciting conclusion . . .

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Let's Talk Document Management...

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Would you like to scan documents and attach them to a patient record, a physician, an inventory item or even assign them to a specific employee - for immediate viewing by everyone with access privileges? Not only can you save time and money with CPR+, you can also save PAPER. Give Nick or Erika a call today and let them show you the CPR+ Document Management System.

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